34. Luquila

Rakna straightened his clothes after turning back into a therian. He looked behind him at the body of Aquila slowly turning into particles after he had killed him.

He had received forty experience points from him because he dealt the finishing blow and from what he understood, everyone else who had participated in the battle had gotten their own percentage of that amount depending on their contribution.

“Hm?” Rakna tilted his head to look at Pronos who was tapping on his cheek. The little snake then pointed at his mouth and it was then that he noticed the stains of blood around his lips. He grunted and wiped it with the back of his hand. “Thanks. I have to admit, it’s a bit messy to pull out a heart and eat it,” he said with a flat tone.

He then brought the System windows he had put aside to the front and took a proper look at them while walking toward the gate. There were three of them in total.

The first one was obviously the kill notification. As for the second one…

❮ ◈ ❯

You have defeated the clone of the Eagle God’s Divine Avatar with a crushing might while being considerably disadvantaged. Aquila has acknowledged your strength and talent after the memories of his clone came to him.

Congratulations! You have acquired a new title; Divinity Slayer!

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Divinity Slayer

The nomination of Divinity is the first step on the hierarchy of the Global Pantheon. Divinities are considered the weakest Celestial Beings, trumped by Demi-Gods, Earthen Gods, Heavenly Gods, Ancient Gods, Mythical Gods, and Primordial Gods.

Nonetheless, you have fought and defeated a Celestial; a feat worthy of the highest praise for a regular mortal.

Title Effect: Attack, Magic Attack, and Defense +10% against Divinities.

Additional Effect: When killing Divinities, the Host will get a random increase to their attributes.

❮ ◈ ❯

“Hm, Alexa, that second effect, I suppose it doesn’t include Aquila, does it?”

[It doesn’t. This only concerns future slain Divinities.]

Rakna huffed. He would be lying if he wasn’t a bit disappointed but the third System window in front of him was enough to completely outweigh any downside imaginable.

❮ ◈ ❯

Activation of The Harvester.

The heart has been assimilated. The Host is not compatible with the divine essence. A gene mutation has been initiated. Success Chance: 1.5687%

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Mutation Successful!

Implementation of Core Gene Successful!

Second Gene Established: Royal Luquila.

❮ ◈ ❯

“I have to say; luck is a really good thing to have,” Rakna commented and opened the details of his Nirvana Skill.

❮ ◈ ❯

- The Harvester: An exceptionally rare type of skill; Assimilation. The Host has the ability to acquire a being’s trait by devouring their heart. The first heart consumed by the Host will determine the core genome and alter the Host’s race.

Current Number of Genetic Factors Assimilated: 2/4

1St Factor (Core Genome): Nine-Tailed Wolf. Two Tails Unlocked. Next Tail: Lv.10/Lv.25.

Currently Attuned Aptitudes: Smell of the Wolf God, Claws, Shape Shift.

2nd Factor: Royal Luquila. Next Wings: Lv.10/Lv.100

Currently Attuned Aptitudes: Luquila’s Wings, Flight, Fabled Sight, Lesser Regeneration

❮ ◈ ❯

“Luquila, huh? What does ‘Next Wings’ mean?” Rakna uttered out loud.

[I recommend using Appraisal on the genome itself, Rakna.]

He didn’t need to be told twice. He focused on the word he wanted a description of and he silently cast his skill.

❮ ◈ ❯

Luquilas are considered creatures belonging to the Lost Ages. Barely any record of their existence is left. But the very few annals and histories that were passed on told of a few facts.

Luquilas are commonly seen as the close cousins of Griffins. They were caricatured as large quadrupedal beasts with the body of a wolf, the head of an eagle, and talons as their rear feet. They also possessed three pairs of feathered wings and were said to be the fastest creatures to ever exist as well as the bearers of one of the best regenerating abilities.

There is no actual proof of their existence except words and images. According to researches made by illustrious mages, including ???, the age of Luquilas’ legends would place their last sighting at least six hundred million years ago.

Note: The Royal Luquilas were said to be able to rival natural-disaster-class beings like dragons and phoenixes.

❮ ◈ ❯

“I see. So, it means that I will grow a second pair of wings at level 100. Now; the question is…” He closed his eyes and tried to feel a sensation similar to when he grew his tails and ears.

After a short minute of deep concentration, he got a result. One brief reaction near his left shoulder blade. Then, the same thing happened on his right side. He then groaned as he pulled his shoulders inward and a pain hit him as soon as he heard an unfamiliar but oddly identifiable sound.

Rakna looked over his shoulder and a large dark wing almost hit him in the face because of his lack of control. He first tried to completely deploy them and in one swift motion, the two wings unfurled and spanned over three meters.

He then was able to admire them as much as he wanted. They were mainly black with silver accents on the lower half. They were feathered but unlike what you would see in representations of fallen angels, the feathers themselves were a lot more numerous and shorter. There was also a layer of dark blue fur inlaid under each feather, which made the whole thing glint when it was exposed to sunlight.

Rakna hummed and then tried to fold them which he did surprisingly easily. The more time he spent with them out, the more he could control them without thinking. He then deployed them again and repeated the process until he felt no difficulty doing it.

“Wait, how did it go through my clothes?” The question abruptly hit him. He wanted to retract them and see if his hoodie was still intact but that generated another question. “How do I put them back…?”

[I have the answer to your first question, Rakna. The System provides help for Hosts with extra appendages such as wings. When you take them out, the System will perform the necessary modifications to the clothing. And when you retract them, it will go back to its state beforehand.]

“I see… what about my second question?”

[…I’m afraid you will have to find out by yourself.]

Rakna’s expression twitched. He could have sworn he heard Alexa laughing at his troubles. He was forced to spend the next five minutes practicing how to retract and pull out his wings at will. Lastly, when he was done with that, he checked out the descriptions of his four new abilities.

❮ ◈ ❯

Luquila’s Wings: The wings of the mythical Luquila. They have a defense value equivalent to the double of the Host’s. They consequently possess the potential to be used as shields.

The ‘surface feathers’ can also be launched at the enemy with an attack value equivalent to half of the Host’s. The time needed for the surface feathers to regenerate varies according to the endurance attribute and regeneration-boosting traits.

Current Amount of Surface Feathers: 1000.

Current Regeneration Time: 1 min per feather.

The Luquila was rumored to be one of the fastest flying creatures to ever live. However, with only one pair of wings, the maximum speed is severely limited.

Current Max Flying Speed: (speed*10) km/h

It is also possible to infuse mana into the wings to double the flying speed at the cost of 50MP per minute.

Flight (Lv.1): Host’s proficiency at controlling their flight-related techniques.

Fabled Sight (Lv.1): The eyesight of a Luquila allows for both near-perfect physical and spiritual vision. Both distance, speed, and lighting are not a problem for the Fabled Sight and most illusions and spiritual beings such as ghosts can be perceived by it.

Lesser Regeneration: Increased healing factor. Strong enough to heal smaller injuries at least twice as fast as a normal human. Bones heal under a week and blood is produced faster. On the other hand, regrowing body parts is not possible and the skill cannot save the Host from the more fatal injuries.

❮ ◈ ❯

“Interesting. These wings have more uses than I thought,” Rakna mumbled and casually tried to wave one of his wings and follow his instincts as several black shadows shot out at high speed and pierced the ground. “Decent firepower. Then, there’s the flight proficiency which is given to me. The lesser regeneration goes without saying and the Fabled Sight… is an active skill.”

Rakna mused and decided to conduct a small experiment. He unfurled his wings and crouched before jumping with everything he had and flapping his wings at the same time… only to fall back on the ground. Pronos looked at him with blank eyes.

“Well, this is going to be harder than I anticipated,” he said and tried to take off again but this time by adding mana to the process.

His wings released a silver mist from the tips of the feathers and before he knew it, he was heading straight toward a tree. He couldn’t stop in time and he crashed into the trunk headfirst. Pronos felt like he was watching a comedy show from under the scarf.

Rakna gritted his teeth and for a moment, his eyes flashed red. He groaned and pulled out a cigarette to calm his emotions.

He slowly stood up while huffing smoke. “Trial and error, trial and error…” He muttered to himself and closed his eyes to get to the proper mindset. His eyes sharpened and he once again channeled his mana. He then also got an idea and tried to manipulate his ‘soul’ that he came to notice thanks to the Eyes of the Soul.

Then, the silver mist returned and he flapped his wings for the third time. This time, his figure blurred and he traveled around fifty meters upward in a few seconds. He then wagged his wings again, ascending even higher and faster, leaving a silver trail behind him.

In a moment of absolute focus, Rakna felt like he could feel every variation of airflow around him which was followed by several System prompts.

❮ ◈ ❯

In a moment of deep focus, you have gotten closer to your soul and reached incredible insights.

Eyes of the Soul has leveled up!

Flight has leveled up!

Flight has leveled up!

Flight has leveled up!

Flight has leveled up!

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Through executing a specific action, a new skill has been created; Mana Control.

Mana Control (Lv.1): You have learned how to command the reserves of mana within you and can now begin to use it more freely. It can for instance be used to release blunt waves of energy or add a layer of protection around a part of the body.

Mana Control is seen as a gate to the acquisition of many other mana-based skills.

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Through executing a specific action, a new skill has been created; Artzpul.

Artzpul (Lv.1): Contrary to its other stamina version, Atzpul, Artzpul employs pure mana to launch the user into the air. It can also be used to cushion a landing. The higher the level, the faster it takes effect. This skill is rarer than its counterpart because of its harsh requirements on the user’s wings’ ability to redirect mana.

Cost: 2 MP

❮ ◈ ❯

After reaching a satisfying height, Rakna began to fly horizontally and also stopped feeding his wings mana and the silver trail disappeared. That mana-boosted flight took him fifty mana points every minute, in other words, nearly one mana every second. He had to use it sparingly.

“Sssssaaa,” Pronos let out a contented noise as he stuck his head out of the scarf.

“Enjoying yourself, little guy?” Rakna snorted and ignored the notifications of his flight proficiency going up even faster than what his stealth had gone through, and did what his intention was in flying up in the first place.

He mentally triggered Fabled Sight and his eyes whirled and turned golden. Rakna suddenly saw his vision go through a massive change. He scanned the ground with it active and managed to see through almost everything as if he was standing in front of it.

He could see where the remaining goblins were hiding across the entire forest with just a few glances and even the smallest animals like rabbits and squirrels couldn’t escape him. He also got to see the survivors from his school other than his or Herts’ groups.

Rakna looked at them and squinted. He got closer to the ground and whistled loudly. “Whether you pull it off or not will solely depend on you,” he mumbled as the wolves responded to his call.

He then spent a minute or two adjusting himself to the skill before disengaging it with a blink. “This should be enough experimentation for today,” he muttered and turned around right when his flight reached level 8. He then moved his mana back to his wings and zoomed through the air to return to the gate.

As he was about to reach the ground, he muttered a word, “Artzpul.” The skill made his wings flash brighter and his momentum was killed in an instant. The air current blew away the dust and Rakna landed with both hands and one knee on the ground.

❮◈❯ Artzpul leveled up! ❮◈❯

Rakna snorted at the prompt and cracked his neck as he stood up. He retracted his wings and took a look at his status to see how much mana he had left. “I have enough mana to engage Ulvia’s Veil again. My mana regeneration will keep it for as long as I want,” he said to himself and the illusion once again covered his ears and tails.

After making sure he was prepared, he walked through the gate and exited the Plateau Zero.

AhraManyu

If you're curious, Luquila is something I made up. It comes from 'Lupus' and 'Aquila', meaning Wolf and Eagle in Latin respectively.